The European Car of the Year award is one of the most prestigious motoring contests in the world. Winning the title can help to raise a new motor's profile and improve its sales. Just look at the good fortunes of the last winner, the Vauxhall Insignia, if you don't believe us...

Now the judges have whittled down the initial list of 30 cars, the Top 7 contenders for the 2010 title have now been announced. And, as with most competitions, some controversial decisions have been made, with both the BMW Z4 and the Nissan 370Z among the notable absentees from the list. What were the judges thinking?

While we can understand why the Porsche Panamera and the Nissan Cube didn't make the cut, we're still scratching our heads in wonderment over why cars such as the Z4, 370Z and the Mazda 3 didn’t made it into the final seven – especially given the shockers that did secure a place in the shortlist.

See if you share our despair by checking out the main contenders for the 2010 European Car of the Year title.